


How Do You Know?

by BreakMyPride17



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-17 09:24:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15458262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreakMyPride17/pseuds/BreakMyPride17
Summary: This might be a few chapters. But don't hold me to that because I always start things and don't finish them, not unlike RAS.





	1. Chapter 1

Can anyone really tell when they’ve fallen in love? For some it’s easy, they simply can’t function without their significant other. No sleeping, no eating, no thinking. They are head over heels in love. Alice Smith thought that that was complete and utter bullshit. No way one person could have that kind of effect on you. So how could she tell? Love had been in the earth since the beginning of time and no one thought to write a manual on it? Rude. So yeah, she was winging it. At the moment her current mode of calculation was comparative. She would compare how she felt, thought and perceived each respective boy. So far it wasn’t working out well for her.  
“Is anyone home? Hello? Alice?” she felt a hand being waved in front of her face.  
“Huh? Yeah I’m here. Continue with what you were saying.  
FP frowned at her from across the booth “do you even know what I was talking about?”  
She hesitated, trying to think of a lie but eventually opted to be truthful “no, but I’m sure it was riveting.”  
FP sighed and stole some of her fries “come on then, what’s on your overactive mind?”  
Alice shook her head “you wouldn’t be able to help.”  
He scowled “how do you know? I could be an expert on whatever it is you’re thinking about.”  
She laughed “doubtful.”   
“Try me.”  
Alice finished her fries and looked out the window, for dramatic effect mainly.  
“How do people know when they’ve fallen in love?”  
FP smiled “that’s easy: when they would do absolutely anything for the person in question.”  
That answer didn’t satisfy her “but how do they know when they would do anything for someone?”  
He sat back and thought about that for a few seconds “I imagine it goes like ‘honey, would you fetch me my socks?’ and the other person goes ‘I’d fetch more for you than just your socks.’  
Alice smiled “you aren’t funny.”  
He stared at her for a minute “what’s brought this on? Has Harold professed his undying love for you?”  
She remained silent and sipped on her vanilla milkshake, which she was finding extremely thick today, not unlike FP.  
FP’s jaw dropped “He did, didn’t he?” he squinted at her cautiously “did you say it back?”  
Alice scoffed “of course I didn’t, why do you think I’m having this breakdown?”  
“I’ve seen one of your breakdowns this isn’t a breakdown.”  
“Oh my God the opposite of a breakdown is a break-up.”  
“Actually it’s a fix-up but I’ll let you have your epiphany.”  
Alice threw her head down onto the table “what am I supposed to do? I can’t tell him I love him back, not when I’m not sure.”  
FP shrugged and patted her head like a dog “there, there. You know this is the definition of a first world problem, right?”  
She raised her head and shot daggers at him “are you suggesting that this isn’t a serious problem?”  
FP laughed “well…yeah. It’s not like he’s going to break up with you if you don’t say it back.”  
Alice sighed in exasperation “you don’t know that!”  
Pop came over to collect their empty dishes and FP followed him over to the counter to pay for them both. He slid back into the booth and drummed his fingers off the table, something he was prone to doing when deep in thought. Alice hated it.  
To stop the damned tip-tapping she changed the subject “are you going to Hermione’s party tonight?”  
“Hm? Oh, yeah. Someone’s got to bring the booze.”  
Alice smiled “you aren’t on duty then?”  
FP nodded “I am indeed. So are you by the way, Penny’s orders.”  
She sighed “I can’t tonight FP, Hal’s going to be there. Imagine his reaction if he caught me dealing.”  
He chuckled “I think there would be a lot of him muttering ‘oh hell’ and then his large head would eventually explode.”  
He sighed when he saw the look she was giving him. There was a time when she would have pissed herself at that joke “fine, I’ll sell your half as well.”  
She stood up and smiled “you’re the best drug dealer a girl could have.”  
He laughed and followed her out of the diner “oh how long I’ve waited to hear those words.”  
As she hopped into the passenger side of his truck she frowned “actually, you need to stop with all this drugs shit.”  
FP laughed as he sat in the driver’s seat “why? It’s good money.”  
“Do you know what happens to young boys who get caught dealing weed? Their football scholarships from UCLA and Clemson get revoked.”  
He started the truck and took a left out of Pop’s “that’s very specific, that happens to every young boy you say?”  
She punched his arm “this isn’t funny, you need to stop.”  
“Alright, alright. After tonight I’ll stop. Scout’s honour.”  
“You were never in the Scout’s.”  
“Too busy dealing weed I reckon.”


	2. Chapter 2

The party seemed to be going pretty well without alcohol, as far as FP could tell. People were up dancing, couples were conceiving children and Hermione looked calm and collected- something she most certainly wouldn’t be if this was a flop. FP lugged the keg into the sitting room which incited a cheer from everyone around.   
Hermione sauntered over to him with a fake smile “is this all you brought?”  
FP laughed “there’s more in the truck, Freddie’s unloading it.”  
He looked out the front door to see Fred struggling “I better help him out.”  
Hermione patted his chest rather hard “stay here, I’ll do it.”  
FP laughed again, sensing that all was not well in paradise. Fred had been moody all day and had even threatened not to go to the party. He suspected it was to do with how close Hermione and Hiram had gotten recently, even though she stated that they were nothing more than that. Shaking his head in attempt to rid Fremione drama from his mind, he lifted the keg into the kitchen.   
People started approaching him asking him for ‘merchandise.’ Northsiders were so dumb. After about an hour and a half he’d sold it all, even the amount Alice was supposed to deal. Having a pocket full of cash had always made FP nervous so he opted not to drink tonight. He chuckled as he imagined Penny’s reaction to him showing up at the Whyte Wyrm tomorrow empty handed.   
His amusement stopped abruptly when he saw Alice and Hal, hand in hand, walking upstairs. That only meant one thing, especially since they were both so obviously drunk. FP didn’t know why it annoyed him so much. They had obviously had sex before, they’d been going out for months godammit. But it still pissed him off for some unknown reason. His mind went back to their conversation earlier that day. Did she tell Hal that she loved him? Were they celebrating? Was she giving him pity because she didn’t say it back? It wasn’t really FP’s business to pry but that’s exactly what he was about to do.   
He trudged over and flopped down beside Mary Matthews “hey Mary, what’s up?”  
The redhead frowned at him “nothing much FP, why are you in my personal space?”  
FP laughed “come on Mary, I just want a chat with one of my good friends.”  
She raised an eyebrow “and were you unable to locate a good friend?”  
“I’m looking at her right now.”  
“Cut the shit FP, what do you want to know?”  
He nodded “okay fine, Hal and Alice are pretty serious huh?”  
Mary shrugged “as serious as a high school couple can be I guess, but you knew that already.”  
He nodded again and was beginning to look like a bobble head “so I guess you know about the whole ‘I love you’ fiasco?”   
She hesitated before saying “I do, why?”  
FP was about to ask whether or not Alice had said it back when he realised the situation he was in. If he asked Mary she would undoubtedly report back to Alice that he’d asked leading Alice to question him on why he was so interested. A question he wouldn’t even be able to answer. Or attempt to answer.  
FP stood up and shook his head “forget it. I’m just being dumb. Enjoy your night Mary.”  
He walked away, getting lost in the crowd in case she tried to find him. He realised as he was escaping Mary that he hadn’t wanted to know the answer. If she loved him she loved him and there was nothing to be done about it.   
Suddenly he heard shouting, someone was screaming bloody murder.   
It was Hermione and the target was Fred. The whole party gathered around to enjoy the spectacle, drama was easy to come by but it rarely involved these two. She was suggesting that he had been unfaithful to her while he was assuring her that he most definitely had not. Anyone who knew Fred was laughing at the argument. No way Fred Andrews was anything but loyal. Deep down Hermione knew this but she was looking for an excuse to break up with Fred so she could get with Hiram. FP could see right through it. He thought it was quite shitty of her to drag Fred like this when the poor guy had done nothing wrong.  
While everyone was watching the soap opera unfold FP hung back, drinking his first beer of the night (and probably his last). As he took his final swig he saw a figure run past him in his peripheral vision. Alice. She looked like she was crying. It seemed that FP was the only one to see her so he decided to follow her out when she ran through the front door. There was no sign of Hal so he immediately assumed the worst.  
She was halfway down the road when he caught up to her. She was clearly drunk and her makeup had been smeared by the tears that continued to fall down her face ceaselessly.   
“A-Alice?”  
She turned and when she saw that it was him she laughed “well if it isn’t the man of the hour!”  
FP frowned “what did I do?”  
Another laugh escaped her “nothing! Absolutely nothing! That’s the worst thing about all of this, I wish we had actually done something. Hal was going to accuse me of cheating anyways, might as well have actually cheated, right?”  
FP was perplexed and she was talking too fast for him to process her words. She stumbled in her heels and started giggling when FP caught her “always here to save the day.”  
He didn’t know if she was being sarcastic or not “let’s get you home.”  
Alice scowled “no, I don’t want to go home.”  
He sighed “where do you want to go? Back to the party?”  
She shook her head vehemently “I want to go to yours, at least I can get sick there without judgment.”  
“You’ll be judged by me, the person who will have to clean it up.”  
“You don’t count.”  
By the time they had driven back to his trailer she was fast asleep. He hoped that that meant there would be no vomiting. He lifted her inside as gently as he could manage. Waking her up would be the worst possible thing to do. He put her down on his bed and shut the door quietly. Lighting up a cigarette, he sat on the sofa and took out the money he had made from the night’s dealings. The fact that Alice was in the next room made it hard for him to concentrate. What the hell was happening to him? Her presence wouldn’t have made a difference a few months ago. Hell, he couldn’t even see her right now.   
He stubbed out his cigarette and lay down on the sofa, marvelling at how uncomfortable it was. After a while of not being able to drift off he thought back to Alice’s Serpent Dance, which took place at the end of May. It was now the start of December. Six months. He couldn’t describe what he felt after watching her up on that stage. He was definitely attracted to her physically, the fact that she was pretty wasn’t a new revelation to him but after the dance he understood what his friends always talked about. She was hot. It disgusted him that he thought of her in that way. If she found out it would probably disgust her too and she’d stop hanging out with him.   
But Hal seemed to think that she was cheating? With him? That didn’t make sense to FP. Sure, they hung around a lot but it was purely platonic (much to FP’s dismay). They’d only kissed once and that was during truth or dare in ninth grade. If you could call it a kiss.   
Eventually his eyes got heavier and he gave in to sleep, something that was becoming more difficult for him to do these days.


End file.
